strader



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. T. STRADER, H. P. GRAY & IQJ. BURGESS.

KNOCK DOWN 0R FOLDING TABLE.

Patented Sept. 14, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

L. T. STRADER, H. FfGRAY & I. J. BURGESS. KNOCK DOWN 0R FOLDING TABLE.

No. 349,185. a Patented Sept. 14, 1886.

ITIVES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI T. STRADER, HENRY F. GRAY, AND IRA J. BURGESS, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO SAID LEVI T. STRADER.

KNOCKDOWN OR FOLDING TAB-LE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 349,185, dated September 14, 1886.

Application filed April 24, 1886.

Cb all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, LEVI T. STRADER, HENRY F. GRAY, and IRA J. BURenss, of Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knockdown or Folding Tables; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled IO in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in knockdown or folding tables.

The object is to provide a-table more particularly for use as a work or card table or for other light usage, which may be compactly folded and packed for shipment, and which may be set up or knocked down in a few moments and by an unskilled person.

A further object is to provide a table which will stand firmly when adjusted for use, and which may be manufactured at a cost which will bring them within the reach of the masses.

\Vith these ends in view our invention con 5 sists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be' hereinafter described, and pointed "out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom plan View of the table folded for storage or shipment. Fig. 2 is an end View of the table adjusted for use, the end of the table-bed being broken away to show the engagement of the legs with the body; and Fig. 3 represents detached views of the hinge and 3 5 securing devices. Fig. 4 is a modification.

A represents the table-bed, which, in thepresent instance, is provided with a depending strip, a, at a short distance from the edge of the bed, to give the table a heavier and 40 more finished appearance, and to serve as a shield to'hide the sides and back end of a drawer, B,which is arranged to slide from be neath the table-bed out and in at the middle portion of one of the sides, the strip a being cut away or omitted, as shown at b, to admit the same. The strip a also serves to hide the cleats and other devices by means of which the legs are secured to the bed. A pair of cleats,'C one at each end of the table-are 5o firmly secured to the under side of the table- Serial No. 200,021. (No model.)

bed. The said cleats are preferably made of some tough woodsuch, for example, as maple, ash, or bass-woodbut may be made of other woods or of metal, or any material which may be found desirable. The legs I) are united in pairs by girders (l, the two end legs forming a, single pair. The upper end of each leg is provided with'a pair of hooks, E, the under faces of which are formed on an incline extending from the point of the hook gradually nearer the top of the leg. The hooks E are made right and left, and are provided with seeuringplates 6, preferably formed integral therewith, by means of which they are firmly attached to the sides of the legs, the points of the hooks on the same pair of legs extending in the same direction, either toward the front or rear side of the table. A pair of pins, F, are set in eachof the cleats ('3, extending transversely through the same, and project from the opposite edges of the cleats in positions to engage the hooks E when the pair of legs is swung into adjustment at right angles to the table-bed, with the ends of the,

legs in contact with the lower face of the cleat and the hooks projecting upwardly along the edges of the cleat. The relative position of the pins F and hooks E is such that when the points of the hooks extend over and first engage the pin, the upper end of the leg will be in light contact with the face of the cleat. Thus, when the pair of legs is forced'along the cleat, either rearwardly or forwardly, as the case may be, the ends of the legs will. be forced into snug contact with the cleat by the drawing of the inclined faces of the hooks on the pins. The lateral sliding movement of the legs may be conveniently accomplished by one or more sharp taps with a hammer or mallet, and to prevent the denting or bruising of each leg a button, G, is inserted in the outer face of each leg just below the edge of the strip a.

The arrangement for hinging the legs to the to the tablc-bcd in close proximity to the edge of the cleat C, or the sockets might be formed by cutting away the corners of the cleats I and allowing the table-bed and cleat C to complete the walls of the sockets. The socketcleats I and the horns or pintles h are so located with respect to each other that when the legs are folded over flat against the tablebed, with legs interlocking, as shown in Fi 1, the pintles h will be nearly or quite their entire length in the sockets, and the hingejoint complete. The horns or pintles h, secured to a pair of legs, extend in the same direction, a direction opposite that in which the hooks E, secured to the same pair of legs, extend, and when the legs are slid transversely to the table-bed to force the hooks in contact with the ends of the pins F, the horns or pintles are thereby partially or entirely withdrawn from their sockets. The drawer B, when the legs are folded, occupies a position underneath the central portion of the tablebed between the legs.

In Lthe modification shown in Fig. 4: one horn or pintle h and a pair of inclined-faced hooks, E, are formed integral with a single securing-plate attached to the outer face of the leg, and the ends of the securing-pin with which the hooks engage are replaced by shoulders or lugs formed on the ends of a bent plate or bar, K, let into the upper face of the cleat.

In case it is desired to remove either or both pairs of legs from the table, it may be accomplished by simply swinging the legs far enough from the table-bed to clear the drawer B, and then sliding the horns or pintles it out of their sockets.

The table-bed may be of any form and construction in common use or approved by future experiment and yet have the improved construction of legs and fastening devices secured thereto. The horn or pintle brackets may be secured directly to the legs instead of to the girders, and many other slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention; hence we do not wish to limit ourselves strictly to the construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a tablebed, of a pair of legs hinged to said table-bed and adapted to have a sliding movement at right angles, or nearly so, to the longitudinal axis of the legs, a set of inclines, andaset of securing lugs or shoulders, one of the sets secured to the legs and one to the table-bed, adapted to lock the legs to the table-bed by the sliding movement of the legs, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a table-bed, of a pair of legs hinged to said table-bed and adapted to have a sliding movement at right angles, or nearly so, to the longitudinal axis of the legs, and provided with a set of inclines adapted to engage a set of securing logs or projections attached to the table-bed by the sliding movement of the legs, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a table-bed provided with a double set of securing lugs or pins at each end, of two pairs of laterallysliding legs, each pair being provided with a double set of inclines adapted to engage the securing lugs or pins, and further provided with a set of hingepintles, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with aiahlebed provided with a pair of cleats secured to the under side of the bed near each end and a pair of pins set transversely in each ('leat, of a pair of inclined-laced hooks secured to each leg, adapted to draw the legs int 0 snug contact with the lower face of the cleat by their sliding ongagement with. the ends of the pins, substatr tially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a tabledied provided with a set of cleats secured transversely to the bed near each end, and a pair of securing-pins set in each (dent, of two pairs of legs provided with incl i nod-faced securi ng-hooksaltached thereto, and with hinge-pintles adapted to work in sockets formed by securing small cleats to the table-bed, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEVI. T. STRADER.

HENRY F. GRAY.

IRA .T. BURGESS.

Vitnesses:

JAMES VATSON, THEo. Ill. LIVESAY. 

